Melodies and Menus: Talking music, travel and more with MacKenzie Porter and Erika Casupanan

Hailey Benedict and Dan Clapson are back with another episode of Melodies and Menus, and they kick things off chatting with Survivor 41 winner Erika Casupanan about her experience filming Traitors Canada.

Erika shares plenty of tips for reality TV competition hopefuls, her favourite spots in Toronto and a ton more.

Next up, Clapson chats with chart-topping act MacKenzie Porter.

With her latest single "Chasing Tornados" hitting No. 1 on the Canadian country charts recently, MacKenzie Porter is the first female artist this century to achieve six No. 1 hits. The award-winning singer has even more to be excited about too thanks to her first-ever headlining tour which kicks off in early November.

She chats about favourite comfort foods when she's back home for a visit in Medicine Hat, Nashville hot spots, and much more.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You. Big fan of you fromSurvivor and everything, so excited to thank
you, and also love the hairand I love the Is that a skeleton
yea, yeah, so it's likea skeleton like sweatsuit. So this is
the one month of the year it'sseasonally appropriate to wear. I wear it
outside of October, but at leastnow not everybody looks at me. Were
it's a really a big, bigHalloween person. Then obviously I used to

(00:23):
be. I used to love costumes. I think now it's like, if
the idea strikes, I'll do one, But you know, I like to
get into the mood of things forsure. This is Melodies and Menus,
a podcast mini series brought to youby Eaton North that talks about all things

(00:44):
food, music, arts, culture, and a ton more with interesting Canadians.
I'm one of your co host,Dan Claps and joined by our special
co host for the Fall, HaileyBenedict. Hi. How you doing today?
Well, I'm pretty good, butI'm starting to obsess over Halloween candy
because it is the time of year. Yeah, me too, It's I've
been addicted. We keep getting thelike, you know, the boxes of

(01:06):
whatever. It's like all the differentkinds in a big box and they're gone
in like three days. I mean, that's the problem. I was gonna
ask you, what, what isthe reasonable time frame to purchase so you
don't eat all the candy? Butclearly you have that problem. Oh we've
been doing this since August, likeliterally since they started coming out with the
box, since August. Oh yeah, as soon as they started coming out

(01:26):
with those, it's been a thing. Okay, Well, I mean then
I feel much better about myself becauseI've only really this week, and that's
Halloween is still a bit away,so okay, I feel good. I
feel better. Yeah. Yeah,there's just the issue is that they're so
addicting because you know, they're small, so you don't I feel like you
don't like notice too as like manyas you're grabbing, because I'll just like

(01:47):
take a handful and then all ofa sudden you've have forty five Henry's Yeah,
I'm a Smarties gal. Oh fair, I like the Smarties. Yeah
that's my What's what's your favorite?I mean I've got to say, oh,
Henry, that's that's my number one. I like some texture in my
chocolate bar, and I feel likeHenry's deliver that, you know, a
little bit of caramel, a littlebit of crunch the peanut, Like what's

(02:08):
not to love? You know,that's that's completely valid. Mm hmm.
I mean I do feel like abit older than you. But when I
was younger, Halloween candy was biggerand now it's it's quite small. So
I feel like you need to eatmaybe two Henry bars to get the equivalent
of what was one when I mean, not to date myself, but in
the early nineties when I was trickor treating, So I mean, yeah,

(02:30):
no, I feel you though onthe size thing. We purposely like
when we went trigger treating, we'dgo, like even drive to certain neighborhoods
that would have the bigger houses becausethen they would have the big chocolate bars.
Yeah, every time I drive throughMount Royal is the neighborhood in Calgary
that has quite beautiful houses, Andevery time I drive through there, I
think maybe I should bring my my, my partner's nephew and like go trick

(02:52):
or treating here because for sure,get full candy bars, full size.
Yes, yeah, there's no wayyour nephew's going to eat the at all.
So no, they don't they don'treally keep track. I mean,
yeah, maybe they did once theyhit eight or nine, so still too
young to remember, so I shoulddefinitely take advantage of that. Speaking of
slightly scary season and things that gobump in the night, did you watch

(03:14):
episode two of The Traders Canada?I have watched it, and a lot
of emotions are we allowed to well, I think we can give it on
this a little five minute rundown ofthe episode and what we thought. I
mean, I'm I'm I'm loving itfirst and foremost. Kareem Vanas, I'm
loving her outfits. She is reallyleaning into that oversized suit jacket, oversized

(03:36):
shoulders, and I'm the roundtable outfitwas icon Yes, everything, Yeah,
the whole episode. Yeah, spoileralert if you're listening and you haven't watched
the second one yet, just foranyone that's meet us, meet us for
the next three minutes. Yeah.The podcast, Yeah, but yeah,
it was that well, it wasthe Buried a live challenge, which that

(03:59):
is I think it's got to beone of the most I don't know,
I don't know if my anxiety couldhandle that. That's pretty scary. The
more I watch the show, themore I'm like as much as I want
to be on it, maybe I'mnot cut out for the show. I
know, like the challenges, they'reso intense, and then you have to
follow like an intense challenge with anintense roundtable. Well, what did you

(04:19):
think of the round table? Allthe there was some tea. You know,
the woman from Calgary Donna for beinga medium. She's not really on
the right track with anything, whichis maybe why they cast a medium.
But it's kind of funny. Idon't know, we'll see what happens with
her. No, I feel likeit's kind of I was thinking the same
thing. I'm like, Oh,maybe it's I've kind of lost some faith
in mediums. But who knows,maybe she's maybe her her medium powers are

(04:45):
in other areas. Yeah, Imean that's true, that's very fair.
I almost wanted the roundtable to bea bit more amped up. I wanted
them to fight a bit more.I thought it was very clear immediately it's
either you or you and that's it. There was other people, yeah,
projecting and stuff. It felt verypointed. Yeah, it was very Canadian.
I feel like everyone's like it's nothingpersonal. I also think people are

(05:10):
really scared of making themselves a targetfor the traders, and so they don't
want to suggest a name and thenyou know, get voted out, and
so I think people were still playingit pretty safe, which was interesting to
kind of see, and it kindof was I think I cau't was it
at the end of the episode Awhat's her name for master chef? Nay?

(05:33):
Yeah, I think she had saidlike, it's that mob mentality kind
of thing, and so you yeah, you could kind of see that play
out. But yeah, it wasI'm interested to see what happens from here
on out me too, you know. And it was funny that what we
talked about in the previous podcast abouthow it would be tough for me to
be in a competition knowing that otherpeople could use the money more, and

(05:54):
that that actually came up in thisroundtable. That was a large portion of
the discussion was how to compete orhow to sympathize. Some players were sympathizing
with the fact that they could reallyuse the money when others probably don't need
it as much. Yeah, that'swhat's I think really interesting for me watching
this version compared to the UK version, because it's never really came up in
other formats. I think, yeah, the UK version, I don't think

(06:15):
there's any like influencers or quote unquotenot celebrities, but you know people that
are in the public eye, they'rekind of just regular people. So that
one was kind of an interesting dynamicbecause everyone was kind of in that same
boat that we know of, Iguess, but so is This has kind
of added an extra layer to justsee how people have treated also the reality

(06:42):
TV stars and our poor Erica.I know, Erica gas ouping in from
obviously Survivor forty one, the winner, the first Canadian winner of Survivor was
sadly the first person out on TradersCanada. And I mean that kind of
makes sense. I feel like youhave to make a bold move at the
beginning. And I mean even Ithought Erica would have made a good trader,

(07:04):
So I wonder even if if theyhad not removed her, if they
would have just voted her out anyway, I feel like there was definitely a
target on her back for sure.Yeah, I think it was hard for
her to go into the show withher Survivor experience and everything and then going
onto the trader. And I thinkif she'd been a trader from the beginning.
I think her game probably would havelasted a little bit longer. But

(07:27):
yeah, it was just still sadanyways, because I wanted to root for
her and I love Erica, andI was just sad to see her go.
Yeah. I know, it's alwayssad when someone that you like from
a different format is off a showformat like this, But I mean,
I think there's still gonna be lotsof interesting drama that unfolds, and I
mean that's the thing with the show. You really don't know what's happening week

(07:50):
by week. Although I do feellike a lot of people are suspecting the
real estate agent, and honestly,I probably would too. She's not very
I don't know, she shows itvery much on her face. Mm hmm.
Yeah, yes, which is problematicfor a trader for sure. Yes,
very see, that's how I feellike I would be. I think
I would be very telling. Idon't think I could keep it in.

(08:11):
I think we talked about that lasttime too, But yeah, it's you
definitely have to be a very convincingcharismatic. I think the magician guy I
blanked on his name, but he'sI think he's going to do well as
a trader. Yeah, me too, especially with the trick at the end.
You know. Anyway, I know, I was like, oh that's
a yeah, I think he'll dowell. We can speculate forever. But

(08:33):
we also have the chance to talkwith Erica right now because she was eliminated
and now can talk a bit morefreely about the show. So why don't
we chat with her and see ifwe can get any more details. And
we have to talk about the brunchthe brunch spread too, that deserves some
time, yes, in the podcast, Yes we have to. Okay,
let's bring her on. Awesome.We shouldn't talk about Survivor too much,

(09:13):
but Hailey is the ultimate Survivor fan. So when she found out that you're
getting you on the podcast, itwas an exciting day for sure. Oh
my god. I mean, Ihope I don't disappoint Hailey, Oh my
gosh. No, And I wasit was the best ever when you won,
because like, not only you're Canadian, but you're a woman, and
it's like about time that we getsome representation for some winners. And I

(09:35):
just I just thought your whole storythroughout that season was amazing, And yeah,
Survivor's like been my mom and Ilike watched it, like I literally
from probably the minute I was born, so it's it's every year. It's
fun to see who the winners areand then to have a Canadian root for
it was pretty sweet. So yeah, big, thank you. Tell your

(09:56):
mom, I say, hi,Oh my gosh, I will She'll she'll
think that's amazing. She'll think that'sso when you were asked to go on
The Traders Canada, was it inthe back of your mind that you would
definitely have a target on your backbecause you won Survivor completely. I mean,
I actually had never watched any ofthe versions of The Traders until they
called me, because I was like, I don't know, do I really

(10:18):
want to do another reality show?But then I watched the American season.
Then I ended up watching the UKand the Australian season, and I realized,
oh, this is the exact sameas Mafia, which is a game
that a group of friends and Iactually would play all the time. We
eventually had to stop because we couldpick up on who was lying so quickly
because we played so often. ButI thought, Okay, I know how

(10:39):
to play this game. But yeah, of course, of course I knew
that I had a target on mefrom Survivor, and I think that once
I got in there and I meteverybody else, I realized, like,
oh, I am one of thefew people who have played a game like
this, so I am in asticky position. I don't know. I
feel like viewers like myself. Ifeel like most people expected you to be
picked as a trader and you weren't. Do you feel like you would have

(11:01):
made it further in the show ifyou were a trader, I would have
at the very least not been thefirst person murdered, right like, So,
I mean, as it's interesting,So it's like a trader is high
risk, and I think the gameis set up so it's easier for a
trader to win. Part of thereason is because there's fifty percent fewer chances
for you to be eliminated. SoI think it's just based on how the

(11:22):
game is designed. I definitely wouldhave gone farther as a trader, but
that said, I would have alwayshad suspicion on me. So I think
that either I could have gone downas a faithful as you know, like
a robbed queen and everyone being upsetI got murdered on day one or I
could have totally crashed and burned.As a trader, who Knows, I
feel like waiting to find out ifyou've been murdered. Its got to be

(11:45):
the most like nerve racking feeling,as you're just kind of waiting, And
in other seasons of the traders,like a lot of the faith soles will
say that they've like lost sleep.I wanted to know what is more nerve
racking, going to tribal council orwaiting to find out if you've been murdered
or not? Oh, going totribal council, because at least when you
go into tribal council, there's stillthe opportunity to figure out how to save

(12:09):
yourself, so the pressure is stillon, right And also I never felt
that worried going into a tribal councilon my season who. But in terms
of getting murdered, the thing isthere's nothing you can do about it,
which to some people I think couldbe scary. But for me, when
I went to bed that night,I thought, Okay, there's a possibility
I could get murdered. I couldunderstand why I get targeted. At the

(12:30):
same time, there's nothing that Ican do about it. So I would
spend my time thinking what is onmy to do list for tomorrow in order
to keep me in the game longer, and I really focused on that.
Unfortunately, all of those amazing plans, in my opinion, I made,
I didn't get to execute. Butyeah, just kind it's kind of out
of your control at that point.I mean, you didn't make it to
the brunch, but I'm sort offixated on the brunch spreads on the traders.

(12:52):
Of all formats, the brunches alwayslook quite lavish, but the Canadian
brunch actually didn't look that good onthe second episode. I feel like compared
to the other formats, like itwas it looked like there was like three
croissants in a quarter of bre andlike maybe like one orange to share.
It seemed a little lackluster. ButI guess you didn't have it. Yeah,
I wanted to have the full experience, right, So I'm like,

(13:13):
I want to have the brunch.I want to see my photo on the
wall. It sucks because I nevergot to see my photo on the wall
in person. No, even whenI got murdered, I asked, I'm
like, can I go and seeit? But They're like, no,
that ruins the integrity of the game. I'm like, I get it,
but I don't know if this isa spoiler. However, I've been told
by people that I was not missinganything by not going to the breakfast,
So whoaw. So, yeah,that was interesting. You know something Dan

(13:37):
and I noticed right away. We'relike, oh, because I guess you
see it from the other versions ofthe show. They just look like gigantic
feasts, and this was like,you know, you know, breakfast.
I feel like my mom would makesomething similar. Yeah, it seemed like
a like a continental hotel breakfast.But I'm like, I wanted to scone.
I wanted to exactly exactly what alittle without the Traders and Traders Canada

(13:58):
is. It's really theatrical, youknow, even the host she's playing a
character. Did you find that,even though you were wrong only on there
for a short time, did youfind it to be quite fun? I
find that this format kind of lendsitself to being more of like a murder
mystery party than the intensity you'd findon Survivor. I would imagine I had
a blast. It was a tonof fun, and the cast was a
lot of fun. I think theyput together an awesome group of people,

(14:20):
so I hope everyone keeps watching them. And then with Karine, it's such
a different experience with a host.Right when I'm on Survivor, I'm seeing
Jeff. He's somebody who I grewup watching. I thought he was like
my best friend. I felt likeI knew Himhere's Karine in person. She's
super sweet. But when she isplaying the lady of the manner and she's

(14:41):
reminding you you are going to getmurdered, she like scared the shit out
of me truly when I was there. But because of that, it was
just so fun to have this differentexperience with the quirky decor and you know,
the fall outfits and all of that. Yeah, her outfits slay.
I can't wait to see what therest them are for the rest of the

(15:01):
season. Do you have any youmentioned the cast and everything. Do you
have anyone that immediately you felt likeyou could trust right off the bat?
I saw you're talking Kevin and Koozy. We were they people that if you
were going to stick around with,you were going to ride with. Yeah.
Who did you feel like the immediateconnections too? And did you have
any people that you felt like rightaway, you felt like were traders.

(15:24):
I immediately saw Kevin, and I'mthinking, great, there's going to be
another winner from a social strategy game. And was I had met Kevin briefly
before, so we had barely anexisting relationship, but it was enough for
me to know like I liked theguy. So I was really pleased to
see him and to know that wecould be working together. And when I
was thinking about all the people there, unfortunately I wasn't there long enough to

(15:46):
really be able to sink my teethin and say these are who the three
traders were. But the one nightI went to bed, I thought,
okay, I'll make my list ofthe for sure faithfuls and then the could
potentially be traders. I just needa bit more information. So I was
pleased that both of my lists werecorrect. The people who I knew for
sure were faithfuls at this point wereKevin Fears, Rick, Melissa a Colin

(16:11):
Dom and then everybody else. Iwas like, you could be I just
need to get to know you abit more. And in terms of that
trio that was formed with Kevin,Kuzy and I I was just thinking,
okay, statistically someone here who hasplayed a game like Big Brother or Survivor
is going to need to be atrader because they need to have someone who

(16:33):
is capable of actually carrying out thejob. So I'm thinking one of the
three of us is a trader.I know it's not me, So I
thought that my really the line ofevents that I had was to align with
who I believed like the strategic traderwould be and position myself as protection for
them, as someone who would worktogether, who trusted them, and also
as someone who could always be abit of a distraction for everyone else and

(16:56):
someone who people could easily throw thison. Unfortunately that that didn't work out,
but I think that on the otherthing. Oh and then with Melissa
B. Melissa B, it's likeon the show, she was so obvious
as a trader, and I loveMelissa B in person, she was quite
obvious as a trader too, ButI almost psyched myself out when it came

(17:18):
to her because I was thinking,there's there's no way, like someone could
be this bad. And I meanthis with all the love we listen to
this, yeah, but I waslike, there was no way, and
I'm you know, going through likethe meta. In my head, I'm
like, there's no way production wouldpick someone who would be this bad,
So maybe she's not. Like Ialmost psyched myself out when it came to
her. Oh again, you missedthis conversation round table, but we talked

(17:41):
about this with Korean in our lastpodcast episode. I would struggle with the
fact that other people in the gamemaybe could use the money more than I
could if they won. Was thatever something that came to your mind.
No, just because it's like it'sit's a game. I think that what
you do within the confines of themanner is what determines who it should deserve

(18:03):
to win. So I knew thateverybody came with different financial situations. And
I mean, it's easy for meto say because everyone knew I came into
money after winning Survivor. But forme, I was just focused on playing
the game. But I was acutelyaware that that was the potential judgment people
would have for me. In fact, there were people when they would talk
to me and they'd ask, oh, what did you win on Survivor And

(18:26):
I would tell them I want amillion dollars. I would see in their
eyes the way that their judgments ofme were being formed, so I had
a feeling that it was going tocome up in some way. I just
didn't realize that it was going tobe, you know, a central part
of the discussion of the round tableafter I had already been murdered. So
I'm glad that I could still,you know, haunt the manor for a

(18:47):
little bit longer. Yeah, Iagree. I think, like what you're
saying, it's a game, andeveryone you know comes from different backgrounds and
situations, So I agree, youguys just got to play the game to
your rest of billy and not judgepeople on their previous you know, backgrounds,
whatever that might be. M hmmm. I was your life changed since

(19:07):
Survivor? You know, it's beena few seasons since you've been on and
now you're on a new reality show, Like did you did you ever think
you would do another show again?I mean, maybe aside from like All
Stars or something when Survivor, whenthat rolls around again, I would imagine,
But yeah, did you ever thinkyou'd be on television again? Or
was that even a goal for you? I wanted to do television again.
So after I finished Survivor, Iended up working as a correspondent for Entertainment

(19:30):
Tonight Canada. Loved doing TV.I I didn't think my return, one
of my returns to TV would bein the capacity as a contestant, because
truly, I've never really seriously consideredcoming back onto Survivor. I know that
a lot of people are disappointed whenI say that, but it's just I
won, so there was There's notreally anything else I want from the experience,
So I had never thought I wasgoing to compete, especially on another

(19:55):
social strategy game like this, Butthen seeing honestly, it was like seeing
the way that my parents reacted towatching the US version of Traders and how
much they loved it and how muchthey were like, you need to do
it. You'll be like Serrie.I'm like, okay, okay, I'll
get in there and do it.But my life has changed a lot,
and it was not like, oh, I win Survivor and all of a

(20:15):
sudden, it's overnight, my lifeis different. I think it took almost
the full two years and truthfully,me coming back from filming Traders for me
to stop and take a moment andrealize, oh wow, everything is completely
different. Everything has changed over thelast two years where I quit my career

(20:37):
before I went to film Survivor andthen have since been pursuing work in TV,
in media production and cross platform storytelling. I have moved. I've had
so many different relationships shift, andeven things that people might not consider that
I think are mostly gifts, butthen they are are changes. Now I'm

(20:57):
like a recognizable person. I'm someonewho when I walk down the street,
people recognize me and everyone's super nice. I've also had situations where like photos
of me I didn't realize we're takenwhen I'm out in public end up on
the Internet, or people would seeme at places and I'd end up on
Reddit threads where people are like,oh, Erica's at this event right now,
And I know that it's all itall comes from like an exciting place,

(21:19):
but yeah, it's it's very bizarrein some ways that my life has
changed. But at the same time, everything that has happened since Survivor has
been a dream come true, andit's like all of the things that I
had ever dreamed of have been comingto light. So it's all been a
change for the better. That's great. Do you find because social media can

(21:41):
be such a double sword, howdo you deal with you know, some
of of you know, also thepositivity, but maybe some of the negativity,
or like you're saying finding yourself onReddit threads, like what do you
do for your own mental health?To kind of separate yourself from that.
Oh, I try not to lookat anything I learned the hard way.
Don't see what we both to sayabout you on Reddit. Don't look for

(22:02):
the comments. I caught a lotof flak after winning Survivor, and I
know that it's the result of manythings, and one of them just being
being a winner. You're never goingto satisfy anybody, and people can be
really vocal. No matter how youplayed, there's always going to be somebody
who is disappointed that you're the winner. So it's like I had to learn

(22:22):
to really create boundaries and protect myselffor that. And even going into the
traders, I knew that I wasgoing to be the first one out,
but I had to think about allof the lessons that I learned in terms
of seeing the way that people respondedto me on the internet on Survivor when
I won Survivor. But what's funnyis it's like, oh, I won
Survivor and so many people were mad, and then now I lost Traders and

(22:44):
so many people were mad mad.I'm like, oh, I'm like,
it's kind of nice being on theside of the internet where everyone's like rooting
for me and are like gone toosoon, because before it was like she
shouldn't have won. So it's niceto kind of get the whole three sixty
experience. So Toronto obviously amazing foodcity. I was just there for a
week and I ate literally everything,or tried to eat everything. What are

(23:06):
some of your favorite spots there?You know, I mean, there's just
there's so much to choose from.But is there what's your go to brunch
spot? Let's start with that.Oooh okay, when so when I have
people visiting Toronto, I usually goto Mildred's Temple Kitchen one classic usually space
And also there are Survivor fans whowork there, and as many folks know,

(23:27):
in Toronto's West End, it isimpossible to get in there for brunch.
You wait for hours. But nowthere have just been some really sweet
Survivor fans who have said, justmessage me whenever you want to come,
and you skip the line. SoI get to have what I feel like
is the VIP moment when I bringa guest there. Did you have one
restaurant like that was your first placegoing out to eat after Survivor, or

(23:49):
like the place? Was there anythingthat you missed? Also when you came
back, you're like, oh,I have to have that as soon as
I get home, I'm going tothis place. Well, when I came
off Survivor, it was the pandemic, so it was still rare. I
had to stay at the airport hotelfor four days and then I had to
quarantine for two weeks once I gotback to my apartment. So the one

(24:10):
thing I really wanted and the onething I talked about at length while I
was on the show was McCain Deepand Delicious cakes. Oh, and I
would just talk about them in suchexcruciating detail, where by the end my
other castmates, who had never hadthis cake before, they were like,
we know, this is the mostdelicious cake on the planet. So I
have had some of my cast memberscome and visit Toronto, and our first

(24:33):
stop has always been go to thegrocery store and get the Deep and Delicious
in all of the flavors so wecan have it. It was a Canadian
cake. Honestly, yeah, theydon't have it in the US. Literally
my job to know that kind ofthing. I'm embarrassed, that's crazy.
Yeah I didn't. Okay, cooland I have a sense of pride around
that cake. Then, No,they're very tasty. I mean in terms
of Toronto, where do you headfor fun night life? I mean there's

(24:56):
tons to do. I find KingStreets a bit too energetic sometimes. But
is there a cool spot you liketo go for cocktails, watering hole,
that kind of thing. Ooh,okay, no, I'm afraid I don't
go to King Street. I usedto work on King Street and on the
nights where you know you're working late. I remember one of my friends and
I at the office. We're like, oh no, it's too late.
And now it's become like clubland.So it's like, you know, once

(25:18):
you walk out the doors, we'rejust like, okay, we have to
like protect ourselves from all the people. I know that. There was one
time we were trying to leave ouroffice and we had to open the door
and there was like three drunk womensitting on the stoop crying, and so
it's like we opened the door andwe like supported them as we like supported
their backs as we went through thedoor and then shut the door behind them,

(25:40):
and they didn't even realize that,like we were walking behind them.
But I get it. It's likewe were there too light. We were
like infringing on their time. Itwas no longer our our time, it
was their time, so we werethe guests. Ooh it it's hard to
choose. I mean, I I'mquite partial to the West End, so
I love I love College Street doneus West Ausington. That's where I've been

(26:02):
going the last couple of years.And then in terms of cocktails and stuff,
Oh where have I been where thecocktails have been good lately? I
mean one of my I have tosay, one of my friends opened a
place in Parkdale called Simple Things.So there's an amazing cocktail menu. There's
also there's a daytime menu and anevening menu. So I believe ooh,

(26:26):
I might be wrong, but Ibelieve the daytime is an Italian inspired menu,
and then in the evening it's likean Asian inspired menu. And then
there's also a brunch on the weekend. So I've been going there for every
meal, even for happy hour,and I think it's one of my favorite
new spots in the city. Nice. That sounds amazing. I noticed that
you have your own podcast. Youhave other survivor contestants that are on there.

(26:48):
Will you have any Trader cast membersthat might be appearing on there?
Yes, I would love to havesome of my castmates from the Traders,
So once the series is all saidand done, I will definitely have some
of the folks on there. Ishould get the Traders and grill them for
why they I know, like,why did you kill me? Just talk
to those three and that's it.Don't talk to anybody else. I would

(27:10):
love to see that. I shouldreally get the Traders and all and myself
and all of the future murder victims, sit them down and just be like,
what were you thinking? Yes?I like that. I think that's
that's the way to go for sure. Yeah, that's like nice and comfortable
conversation, creating a safe spapace foreverybody you when you watch the episode.
The first two episodes, were youhosting a viewing party for family and friends

(27:32):
or anything? Oh, it wasfun. We had a viewing party some
of the cast members. We gota bar, so we filled the bar
with people for the premiere because whenI was on Survivor, I would have
watch parties every week with family andfriends that got progressively bigger and bigger.
But it was a lot of workhosting these parties, so it was nice
to have other cast members in thecity to kind of share that work.

(27:53):
And I remember at that party theywere like, you have so many friends
who are here. You filled upmore than half of the bar with your
friends, Like how do you haveall these people? And I'm like,
my friends are trained in watch parties. We have experience in this. They
know what to do. So that'sgood when you have a captive crowd.
I mean, Haley can speak tothis. Haley's a professional country singer,
So I mean it's good to havea draw that sounds like a solid draw

(28:15):
to me. That's an easy yesfor a venue for sure, exactly.
I know. I'm like, ifthey kept me longer, I could have
made more economic impact. Honestly,though, you could have. And that
is the funny thing, because somepeople go on the show, and you
know, the people that are faithful, that just come from that have a
not open on TV before, theymight not have those kinds of draws,
honestly, So it is, youjoke, but it really would make an

(28:36):
economic impact for certain businesses if youchose to have youing parties for sure definitely.
Would you have any advice for bothshows? I guess for Survivor if
somebody is going into it for theirfirst time strategically, and same for the
Traders. What would be one thingyou would if you found out somebody was
going into either of those shows?What would you tell them that you don't

(28:56):
know? Ooh, okay, I'dsay two things. Number one is you
have to have strong self perception becauseboth of these games at the core of
them, you need to know howpeople perceive you and how you're going to
be able to work around that.And if you have a good perception of
yourself, then that's how you're ableto really work with managing your threat level.

(29:21):
So yes, work on your selfperception. If you have no self
awareness, just go and have funand just take in the experience. And
then the other thing is so Imean, I don't know if they'll love
that I say this, but theway that the show is described is not
necessarily how the game works. Soyou have to figure out how the game

(29:42):
actually works. And the example I'llgive is for the Traders, where the
show is positioned as a game whereyou need to be working as a faithful
together with the other faithfuls to banishthe traders. But in terms of the
actual strategic way that the game works, it actually is beneficial to keep traders

(30:02):
around for longer because if you keepbanishing them, then there will be recruitments.
There's a chance that you could berecruited as a trader. I knew
I wasn't going to be recruited asa trader, even though I would have
loved to be recruited. But there'sa chance. But there's going to be
new traders that are entering the game, and then you're creating this moving target
for yourself. So you're actually creatinga lot of unnecessarily unnecessary instability in the

(30:26):
game. And plus, with theTraders, it's different than a game like
Survivor because there's absolutely no accountability inthe Traders. You don't need to worry
about having good favor from the peopleyou have just voted out who are going
to be on a jury. Youdon't need to worry about having a quote
unquote resume to describe what you've done. All you need to do on the

(30:47):
Traders is get to the end andthen and then make sure that you are
there without a Trader. And Isay this as a faithful so make sure
you understand that like that, thatis the actual game, not all of
like the craziness. And then Ithink you could do well, but I
don't know. I don't know ifthe powers that be on TV love that
I say that, but that's that'show the game actually works. Okay,

(31:07):
Yeah, we love a candid chat. I think even watching like the UK
version, it was interesting to meto see like a lot of people that
you know, align themselves with thenot knowing that they were aligning themselves with
the Traders did make it farther becausethey Yeah, they kind of became a
protective shield. I also love thatyou said you played Mafia earlier, because
I was telling Dan about that gameand he's ever played it. I've never

(31:30):
heard of that game before, somaybe I'm maybe I'm too old. Maybe
maybe some Mafia too can help you, I guess tune up for the Traders.
Yes, that's so when you playMafia, when you are the Mafia,
even though it's so low stakes,you're probably just playing as an Icebreaker
or among friends. It is soanxiety and do so being the mafia in
just that game. So you needthat practice. Okay, I want to

(31:52):
play this for sure. It's sofun. If I'm good at that,
be good at the traders or no, not necessarily yes things well no,
but this is the thing though.I think it would help you be good
at the traders, but it couldmake you a threat. So this is
where the weird balance comes in.Okay, okay, well, but it's
definitely good practice. I recommend.Oh try, I'll give it a try,

(32:12):
all right. Since this is comingout around closer to Halloween. We
were chatting before you came on aboutHalloween candy, eating too much of it,
maybe not eating enough of it.What's what's your ultimate treat during this
time of year? Ooh, Imean I love a coffee crisp classic Canadian
not too heavy. And then,oh, there's something weird that I like.

(32:36):
I really like like weird marshmallow typethings. I know that those are
often left at the end of thebag, but just like banana e marshmallows.
Love those. Those are so good. The strawberry ones too. Yeah,
okay, thank you for liking them. No, I got you.
We're on the same wavelength. Andthen I also love these are not going
to be in your in your triggertreating bag, But I love those grocery

(32:58):
store cookies that are the show cookiesthat have the different seasonal colors. And
you know that these are just chemicals, but I love them in any sort.
The ones that are shaped like pumpkinsand ghosts and then Santa's no,
no, just the circles and they'relike, they're so soft you pick them
up. There's no structural integrity tothis cookie, just like crumbles. I
love those ones. Don't wish youcould still go trick or treating as an

(33:21):
adult. I'd be so much moretime efficient. I would get so much
more candy, you know, butit's not appropriate anymore unfortunately. No,
I know, I know. Doyou hand out candy? Do you get
trick or treaters? I travel alot for work, so if I'm if
I'm home, welld do we willdo that? Yeah? But it's not
I'm not consistent. I don't likeget into it now, don't like dress
up or anything. So you havea Halloween costume plan this year? Erica?

(33:44):
Do you are you? No?I have to figure it out.
I have so many random things thatI own, so I'm sure that I
could put together something. But Ialso, for the folks listening, I
have this skeleton sweatsuit two paint twopiece that I got from Ellie Elsaser.
So she's this Canadian designer and thisis very now thank you, and also

(34:07):
she's awesome. She's from I thinkshe's from Hamilton, and at least now
I know that, at the veryleast I always have something I could wear
on Halloween. So this is myall year sweatsuit and then my backup Halloween
outfit. Love it. Maybe I'llget one of those and I'll play Mafia
and call it a call it aHalloween. There you go. You're a
Trader in the making. Yes,Erica, thanks for chatting with us.

(34:30):
So Robert forty one winner Traders Canada, thank you chatting with us. We
appreciate it. Thank you for havingme so great to meet you. Erica.
Thanks for your time. Okay,I think you kept it together really

(35:07):
well for being the massive, massiveSurvivor fan that you are. Oh my
gosh. I was like trying toyeah, keep calm and collected, and
then when she shouted out and said, say hi to your mom, Like
I was like, oh, man, Brandy, I want that one.
Yeah, that's exciting. It's funnyhow she she seemed very aware that she

(35:30):
would probably go home first on theshow, and I feel like at the
cast, if she wasn't put asa trader, I assumed that she probably
would have too. I know,I think had it been like the entire
cast was reality Stars, maybe ifthey would have been a little different.
But yeah, it was sad,but I get I get why they did

(35:51):
it. Maybe Kevin's next. Maybethey're cutting all the all the winners out.
Maybe I don't know Kevin now.I feel like he's kinda he's kind
of what Erica was saying, youhave to be really self aware. I
feel like he's kind of he's realizedhe's maybe pushed a little too much,
and so he's kind of taking alittle bit of a backseat. Yeah,
it'll be interesting to see who whothey get rid of next. I feel

(36:14):
like Kevin's maybe advantageous for the tradersto keep around because a lot of faithfuls
probably still think, maybe in theback of their mind, that he could
be a trader. So I feelit's probably useful still at some level,
So I don't know if he'll lastvery much longer, but that's that's just
my guess. So yeah, Iagree with that, we'll see. Time
will tell. Time will tell.We have to wait another week for the

(36:36):
next episode, so sad. That'sso hard because I'm so used to binge
watching the other ones and now I'mlike, I know, I know,
it's such a tease. Hey,it's like, that's what it is.
Yeah, I mean, we're gettingback to the old school TV values,
you know. And I actually kindof like it because otherwise we would have
been to watch it and then wewouldn't even really do this podcast because you
would have just watched it on ourcouches separately for ten hours and then been

(36:57):
too lazy to know anything. Sothis is actually she works out better I
think for us, and I thinkit's fun for the fans to like every
week get invested and be you know, share your theories or share your predictions.
It makes more of a moment outof it for sure, you know,
on social media and things too.So yeah, I as much as
like I'm guilty of the binge watchingand I love it, I do like

(37:19):
spacing it out just because it's like, oh, you get so excited,
and then you can make little,you know, little watch parties and text
each other like like we do andlike I do with some friends. And
my friend Carmen texted me actually andshe was listening to our last podcast episode
and she's like, I love yourpodcast and I'm obsessed with the Trader.
So I think we have like mindedpeople out there like us. So yes,
shout out Carmen. Yes. Allright. Our next guest on the

(37:42):
podcast is country singer that really needsno introduction. Her name is Mackenzie Porter.
And I know you couldn't join mefor this interview, but yet you
recently opened for her outside of Edmonton. You did. Ah. Yeah,
she is honestly so incredible also justan amazing human like she you know,
you never know when you open forartists how they're gonna be. And she

(38:02):
was just so warm and inviting,and she took time to talk with me
before and not a lot of artistsdo that. And then her show was
honestly one of the best shows I'veever seen. If you have the chance,
she's going on tour and I'm sureyou guys talk talk quite a bit
about that. You have to seeher live, because not only does she
have these insane radio hits, buther live show honestly incredible. There's so

(38:25):
many surprises, so many things Idon't want to give away, but yeah,
she's really looking forward to chatting withher for many reasons. But number
one is right, she's having herfirst headlining tour. She's never had a
headlining tour before, so this isthis is huge for her, super exciting.
I think her home show Medicine hatsalready sold out, but there are
tickets available for the other cities,and she is coming through cities like Calgary

(38:45):
and Eponton and Toronto and whatnot.But in addition to that, she just
got her sixth number one hit onCanadian country radio with Chasing Tornadoes, which
is one of my favorite songs currentlyfrom the country music realm. And six
that is that insane. I thoughtit feel good. Oh my gosh,
I can't even imagine. It's soinspiring, you know, like just seeing

(39:06):
her do that, and as afemale too, because you know, females
on country radio aren't aren't as playedoften as the male so to so she
has six number ones, that's evenmore impressive. It's pretty awesome. I
love that, you know, accomplishedactress loves to collaborate. That's too cool.
Musical collaborations like god, Mackenzie Porter, do I know? And if

(39:27):
you see her live show, likethere's even more this is even more so.
Oh my gosh, She's just sucha gem, so great, so
talented, amazing. All Right,Mackenzie, I feel like this is going

(39:53):
to be an easy interview because there'sa lot of really exciting things to talk
about with you. I mean,I don't know where to start. Do
we start with the the number onesI'm making history or Westart with the headlining
tour. Oh my god, Idon't know, you start? I don't
know? Okay, you know what, I think these six number ones as
a true accomplishment, especially since youare the first female artists do that this
decade, that must have felt incredible. I mean, it's so wild.

(40:15):
I uh, I'll never take itfor granted. I still, no matter
how many we get or how manyaccomplished accomplishments we achieve, every time I
put on a new single, I'mlike, but nobody likes it, So
I'm still I still care about itso deeply, you know, as much
as I did that first single,and to see like, you know,

(40:36):
some consistency is so nice, becauseyou never know in this industry, it
can be like it's such highs andlows. I'm really grateful that, like
we've had a really good run,and I hope to keep putting out good
music or amazing music that hopefully canachieve even bigger things too. And I
feel like representation is everything, especiallyin country there there's still so many conversations

(41:00):
about women not getting equal play tomen on airwaves. So I think that
you must really be inspiring a youngergeneration, I hope. So, I
mean I as a listener and asa fan of country music, my favorite
artists are females and they always havebeen since, like you know, Dina
Carter, should I a Twain oryou know, up till now, like
Carly Pearce and Maren Morris. LikeI just feel like those are those are

(41:23):
who I am like fangirling over,and those would be the concerts that I
would buy tickets for. And Ithink like a lot of females feel the
same way as I do, anda lot of males too, you know,
So if people here get the chanceto hear the music I think they,
you know, equally love female artistsas compared to males. I mean,

(41:45):
it's not a day of my lifeif I haven't listened to Chasing Tornadoes
at least twice. So really,I love that song. It's so good.
I don't want to seguay we shouldtalk about the tour, but I
just love the melody of that song. It's just it's so catchy and it's
it's something different. Sometimes on theradio, a lot of songs can sound
similar, and I think, soI feel like melodically, it really catches
you right away. Yeah, thankyou so much. I appreciate that.
Yeah, I think that song hopefullyis a good like representation of what the

(42:08):
new record is going to sound like. You know, I've put out a
lot of like like probably a littlebit more popular in country music for a
while, and I think we stillhave moments like that on this record,
but the whole record overall is definitelymore country and wooden and leans more in
that like Chasing Tornadoes kind of vibe. I personally think. Cool. So

(42:30):
let's talk about the tour then,your first headlining tour that's also super exciting.
I saw Medicine had sold out veryquickly. You're coming to cities like
Calgary and Edmonton. What are youexcited for for this tour? It must
again, it must feel really goodheadlining a tour for the first time as
well. Yeah, I'm so excited. I mean I've never done it,
so I don't really know, youknow, what to expect yet, but
I feel like it was time to, you know, take that leap and
hopefully sell some tickets and have peopleshow up. And I think, you

(42:54):
know, it'll be a moment forlike people have never got to see like
my full show. You know,when I play at festival, it's like
a thirty minute set or even anhour set, but you know you're kind
of like rushed on stage and rushedoff and this I want to like take
our time and like really hopefully showpeople who I am a little bit more

(43:14):
when they come, you know,just to see me. So when you're
on tour I assume you probably havea bigger bus for yourself this time as
well, So if you're are onthe road in Alberta or maybe not,
I don't know. I have avan, dude, I have a van.
Okay. Yeah, it's so funny, like us talking to a friend
of mine, and like we getto do so many cool things, and
like sometimes it looks like shiny andbeautiful and sometimes it really is, and

(43:36):
then sometimes we are like straight grungingit. And I love that. When
you head home to medicine, hatis there is there a restaurant or a
cafe that that really feels like hometo you, like a place that you
visited growing up there and still opennow totally. I'll probably go to There's
a place like right by my parents'place called a Zucchini Blossom, which just
has like yummy soup and sandwiches andcoffees and stuff. So I'll probably meet

(43:59):
some friends there. I try tolike always see my high school girlfriends when
I go home, and then likeif I'm going to go like hang and
like have a drink, we alwaysgo to Local, which is kind of
like a cool I mean it's it'sa chain restaurant, but it's it's cool
in my net. When you areon the road, we talk about this
a lot with musicians. It canbe difficult to eat well if you're driving
a lot of the time. What'syour fast food? If feel like you'll

(44:21):
eat here if you absolutely have todo in the middle of nowhere when there's
only subpar chain options. Oh mygosh. Probably, Okay, that's a
good question. I mean, ifI'm going to like grease it up,
it's probably gonna be like Wendy's orlike in the US, like Chick fil
A or like something like I don'treally eat burgers or anything like that,
so some sort of like chicken spicychicken sandwich I can get down with.

(44:43):
But I mean you're totally right,like it is hard to eat clean.
I got that's like my biggest complaintabout touring is the food. And I'm
like so sensitive with food to beginwith. So I try to like pack
stuff or you know, there's likeI'll do the oatmeal from start Bucks,
or you know, try to getthe healthiest options possible banana from the gas

(45:05):
station, or you know, sometimesI just do chips too, because it's
like that's all the options I have. Sometimes you get sometimes it's fine to
indulge, you know once in awhile. Yeah, I can't be a
habit and I feel like on theroad it can. You can get into
a habit is because that's the onlyoptions you have unless you plan ahead,
right, I know, And ittakes so much planning ahead. And yeah,
I always like have a have aI say, like bad food weekend,
and I come home and clean.So so when you're cooking at home,

(45:28):
are you like a prep for theweek kind of cook? Are you
go with the flow throughout the week? I used to be so organized and
prepped, but like, as mylife got busier, I haven't been doing
that as well. I used tocook so much, but honestly, now
my husband cooks more, and sohe like when I got home, he
had like healthy chicken noodles or notnoodle, but like healthy chicken vegetable suit
for us. He's making meat breakfastright now. It's like, you know,

(45:51):
it's so sweet. So he reallytries to like take that part because
I'm in and out so much.He's like, I got you in the
food part. Oh that's great,that's awesome. One thing that I really
love about your music as well isthat you you appear to love to collaborate.
You know, you've You've done alot of different songs a lot of
different people. Dustin Lynch cheat codesobviously, Dallas Smith. Can you speak
to how collaborating with other artists helpsbolster your own career or can help an

(46:13):
artists bolster with their own career.You know, if you're just looking from
like a totally technical level, likeyou gain some of their listeners and hopefully
that listener would also like some ofyour music too, So it's like you're
just looking from like a you know, business side of it. They if
they have X amount often listens onSpotify. You know, you get that

(46:35):
too, and they get yours,and so it's like that's a nice,
like, you know, collaboration.But for me, mostly it's like the
creativeness of like I'm in the worldof country and to be able to like
step outside I've done it with Virginiato Vegas and ch codes like gen or
Dustin have like another person's opinion inmind and art like added into the mix
is so fun. Do you thinkthat those those specific collaborations like Virginia Vegas

(46:58):
and cheat Codes is a collaboration youthink that would have been feasible earlier on
in your career as a country artist. I'm not talking about you being younger
in your career, but do youthink it just that seems to be more
recent in the past two or threeyears, then back then country is changing
a lot of sort of what I'mgetting at, I feel like, yeah,
I think it is changing a lot. I think like for a long
time it was like no, youcannot like go outside of the country lane.

(47:22):
But I think now it's like there'sso many collabs with like you know,
Dan and Shane and Justin Bieber orlike Jelly Rollers put out one with
Jesse Murphy. Like there's just somuch collaboration happening right now. And I
think because listeners now are listening tolike all genres of music, like they
you know, You're young girl orwhatever listens to country, they listen to

(47:44):
rapulust, to pop, they listento everything, and they're just a fan
of like good music. So Ithink it's much more like widely accepted,
which I think is great. Imean, just because you put out a
collab with somebody doesn't mean you're notstill like a country artist, oh for
sure, or or a pop artor whatever. You know, So I
think that part is so cool andlike I don't know the same same thing

(48:04):
again, like I want to hearmy favorite artists collabing with other people.
I think that's so cool. Withyour tour, where we see any surprise
guests, maybe collaborating with you onstage. You might we have things in
the work. Yeah, it's it'sreally fun because I have friends who live
all across Canada, so you mightsee them. No, I'm looking forward
to that. I mean going backto food for a little bit. When

(48:27):
you are in Nashville. We talkabout this a lot with when we do
chat with country singers. Nashville's foodscene, I feel like has changed dramatically,
especially in the past five or soyears. So there is that stereotype,
much like Alberta, that we arejust steaking potatoes. I feel like
Nashville it's just hot chicken. Socan you debunk that stereotype? I mean
there is hot chicken here obviously,but like I mean the last time we

(48:50):
go out for dinner quite a bit, and like the last time I had
hot chicken. But like we're goingfor dinner tonight to a new place and
there Nashville is specially in the lastoh my gosh, like seven years,
the food scene has gotten so goodhere and we just love trying new restaurants
all the time. So like ourfavorites would be like the Optimist, which

(49:12):
is more of a seafood place.I love, We love oysters, we
love any sort of seafood. Orwe go to this Italian place every time
for like a special occasion called RolfenDaughters. It's kind of American Italian,
I don't know, but they havelike a squidding pasta that is like so
yummy. So we are sushi likeeven. I mean, I know it's
crazy because we're like landlocked here,but they Oku is like one of our

(49:34):
favorite restaurants that we go to.H So we are huge foodies and I
can get down with some fried chicken. But I feel like there is so
many other options here. I'm happyyou brought up the note about sushi because
this is just for anyone listening outthere. There is definitely a misconception with
sushi spots in landlocked areas because becauseof planes and all these international shipping companies

(49:55):
now you can actually get really freshor flash frozen fish to these areas.
So eating eating seafood in Vancouver sometimes, yes, it is fresher and better,
but I mean the hour difference itis now between a place like Nashville
and somewhere on the coast, itwould be minimal. So yeah, I
knowledge for I do think that peopleare always like, oh, like Nashville
doesn't have good sushi. I'm like, I kind of like it, and

(50:16):
like sushi is like truly one ofmy favorite foods. Like I always say,
like if I move on Death Row, like my last meal would be
like just a mound of sushi,like yeah, sashimi or a geary or
whatever. But I actually think likedepending on where you go, it's I
think there's less options to get goodsushi here, but the places I think

(50:38):
are really good. Tons of people, especially in Alberto Western Kada, they
head to Nashville now all the time. It's obviously become a huge, huge
hot spot. What's what's some etiquettefor a first time tourists going into a
bar watching some live music, BecauseI feel like there's some things people don't
necessarily expect when they walk in forthe first time. Yeah, I think
the big thing people will be reallysurprised about for the most part, especially

(51:00):
if you're going too Like a writer'sround is like you're quiet, like you
you don't it's not like background noisethat you like have dinner and a conversation
over. It's like, no,you're listening, and you know, it's
kind of like if somebody's talking atthe table next to you, everyone's kind
of like giving them the side becauseit's kind of rude, especially when it's
like, you know, a songwriterwho's like trying something new and sharing a

(51:23):
new song, like you really wantto hear those lyrics, and the crazy
thing is like you just never know, like that song could be a number
one in a year or two yearsor whatever. So I think that etiquette
the first time people are like,oh, it is like you can hear
a pin drop in here, andthen of course it's kind of magical,
you know. I love that feelingtotally, and it's so nice as an

(51:44):
artist to play to that because youknow, we've all played to rooms where
you really are like background music andlike, you know, people are not
listening, so to have everyone's fullattention feels so good. One thing that
I didn't realize at first and thenwent to Nashville for a very long time
ago now, but the tipping culturefor live musicians is something that I think

(52:04):
Canadians don't expect, right because it'snot really something that exists as much in
Canada. But people don't know thata lot of acts, depending on the
bar, actually are just playing fortips or very very low flat fee plus
tips. So it's important to tipthe performers. Yeah. You know,
when my husband first I came totown, he would play Broadway a little
bit and you don't make a feeat all. They would also do things
where it was like the man,I don't know if this is kind of

(52:29):
like schedule what, but the ownerswould be like, hey, if you
give us your tips, we'll letyou play for another two hours. No,
I've never heard that. Yes,so, and even servers, servers
in Tennessee they make like two dollarsan hour, which is yeah. Yeah,
so they're only working for tips,so, which I think is so

(52:50):
wild, it's crazy. Yeah.So, anyways, it is important to
tip for your artists or your bandsor whatever because they're not making anything otherwise.
Would you look forward to when youcome back to Canada as opposed to
spending lots of time in the States, because, I mean we are we
are very different. I feel likeculturally and even just what you can access
in every city when you're up heretotally. I mean for starters, that
obviously is my biggest fan base.So I get to play shows where like

(53:14):
people are singing every word and like, uh, you know, there's just
there's just a bigger audience for meup there. So that is for starters
my favorite part. And I'm alwayslike surprised, like I always it's so
bad. I'm always like, whatif nobody shows up, then all of
a sudden, like thousands of peoplewill be there. I'm like, okay,
yeah cool. But I think thatfor starters is my favorite thing.

(53:37):
Obviously I have a ton of familyand friends. Like every city I play,
you know, my friends and familyare coming to shows, and that's
really special. It's just you know, really safe, fun, positive experience
when you play a show in Canada. Is there one Canadian food that you
miss while you're in the States?Iconic Canadian food? I mean, so

(54:00):
if I'm like drinking, I canlike crush some poutine, like I love.
I love that, especially late atnight when I probably shouldn't be eating
it, And like, you know, have you still want to find that
in Nashville? I find that surprisingwith all the Canadians that are there,
there is, but it's not inIt's not the same, not the same,
and it's not as common. Solike there's one place on twelve Seth

(54:22):
that you can get poutine, butit's probably better for me, like I
shouldn't be eating Yeah, keep itaway. Yeah that's fair, that's fice,
but like, yeah so much.I mean, I feel like Canada
just has really good food and soit's it is fun for us to like
stop at different places when we're ontour. What is the song of the
year so far to you by aCanadian artist? Can be any genre?

(54:44):
Oh that's a good question. Thesong of the year by Canadian artists?
No pressure you, No, it'sgood. You know who I really really
like right now is Elijah Woods.Oh yeah, it's so good. Yeah,
a new record out, and Iknow he's on tour right now,
and I'm just a big fan oflike everything he's doing. Yeah, super
super talented. Love it. Okay, I'm gonna go stream him now and

(55:07):
obviously Chasing Tornadoes because I've only listenedto it once before this interview, and
I, like I said, Ionly wake up early for interviews that people
like you, so I appreciate it. Oh, thanks for getting up,
I did too, Like I bedlike twenty minutes ago. I hope you

(55:36):
have foam will for missing that combo, I really do. I was really
sad I couldn't make it. Maybeshe'll come back again, maybe she likes
us. We'll see. Oh mygosh, I would love that. We'll
cross our fingers. Yes, You'realso going on a tour very soon here
with Tim Hicks. So what's thepreparation for that been, like, Oh
my gosh, Yeah, it's it'sbeen really exciting. It's his camp Fire

(55:58):
Troubadour tour, and so I won'tgive much away of you know how it's
how it's going to be, butdefinitely leaning into that campfire theme and I
think a lot of the songs thathelped raise him, and so I'm excited
to see his show but also incorporatethose themes into my set and uh yeah,
just getting excited to head out onthe road. And a lot of

(56:19):
them are intimate venues, which aremy favorite venues to play because it's just
nothing, I don't know, there'sjust a special feeling when you're in like
a theater or smaller space because youreally can see everybody and their reactions and
and I just feel like you cancreate, uh an even more powerful connection
in those types of rooms. Soyeah, really I'm really looking forward to

(56:40):
it. It was funny. WhenI was chatting with Mackenzie, I asked
her if she has like a biggerbus for this headlining tour, and she
said no, She's traveling in avan. So is that like, what's
really what's your transports? She like, can, Oh, I'm I'm actually
traveling with uh do you know CodyIvan? Yeah of course, yeah,
so we're he's gonna kind of helpedme out and we're gonna get some content

(57:02):
together and kind of duoh it solove it. Yeah, two of us
in a car. Yeah sounds magical. Ye, it's nothing, nothing magical.
And then even when I was ontour with Aaron, even when you're
on the bus, you think like, oh yeah, it's even there's that
opens up a whole new can ofworms. So sometimes even being on the

(57:22):
bus isn't always what luxurious is.I mean, I actually don't picture it
as being luxurious. I just feellike headlining to her slightly bigger bus is
what I would imagine. Yeah,I know, but yeah, people will
do whatever, I guess so tomake things work. And sometimes sometimes the
vans are great, you know.Yeah, it's true you can film with

(57:45):
lots of stuff with your merchy it'salways good to work. Yeah. Yeah.
Anyway, we totally getting off topichere, so that brings us to
the end of our episode of Melodiesand Menus. There's a ton of fun
and we'll be back next week chattingwith maybe a Trader, maybe a faithful
we don't know, someone from TradersCanada will be joining us. Very intrigued,

(58:05):
we shall see. And we'll alsochat with the lovely Carolyn don Johnson,
who is absolutely amazing. She's awesome. Love her. You were just

(58:30):
listening to Melodies and Menus, apodcast mini series brought to you by Eating
North. For more information on ourco hosts, Dan Klapson and Hailey Benedict,
our guest today, and how aboutfood in general, you had to
Eat north dot com until the nexttime,